Kenya's former Finance Minister Simeon Nyachae dies

Kenya's former Finance Minister Simeon Nyachae has died at the age of 88.

The businessman, politician, former chief secretary and ex-head of civil service died at the Nairobi Hospital on Monday, February 1 where he had been undergoing treatment for an undisclosed ailment.

His body is currently at the Lee Funeral Home in the capital Nairobi. 

Born on February 6, 1932 in Nyosia village, Nyaribari in Kisii, western Kenya, to colonial-era Chief Musa Nyandusi, Nyachae was trained in the UK as a public administrator.

From a district officer in Kangundo, Machakos, he rose through the ranks to be appointed district commissioner at the time of Kenya’s independence in 1963 before serving as a provincial commissioner between 1965 and 1979.

He would later serve as a chief secretary and Head of Civil Service under former presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi.

The former minister leaves behind a vast business empire with interests in manufacturing, transport, real estate, banking and large-scale farming.

In 1992, Nyachae left the civil service to join politics and was elected as the Nyaribari Chache Member of Parliament, a seat he retained in successive elections until his defeat in 2007. 

President Moi appointed him minister of Agriculture and later Finance. 

After falling out with Moi in 1999, he was moved to the less powerful ministry of Trade.